Only for you, Berwald
by sartielifts
Summary: SuxFin fluff about them celebrating the Swedish national day, Tino trying to sing the Swedish national anthem for Berwald.    After the main story, I've added an English translation to the song, for those who wondered what the hell he was singing.


He seemed cheerful today, Berwald.  
>To anyone other than me, he might have looked bored out of his mind, but I saw it, that really faint little smile that could only be seen in his eyes.<p>

I never thought it was such a big deal to him, and I couldn't even remember him ever talking about it. Hell, he never talked about anything, basically.

Still, it was so obvious that I was going to take part in something so huge to him, that I was more than a little nervous of screwing up.  
>My Swedish wasn't exactly flawless, to say the least.<p>

As he made his final preparations for raising his country's flag, I drew a couple of shallow, nervous breaths and cleared my throat.

This was it. Make one mistake, and he'd think I didn't cared enough about his heritage to learn his national anthem.

He was just about to start hoisting that yellow and blue flag, when he said to me:

"You didn't have to do this, but thank you anyway."

If that was supposed to be comforting, it failed miserably.  
>But then again, he had no idea how serious I had taken this.<br>That I had been trying to memorize this song just for him.  
>That I had stayed up late, trying to learn to sound more Swedish, which I only seemed to get the hang of while I was drunk, according to my Norwegian friend, who tried his best not to laugh at my poor attempts to sing in a language so close to his own.<p>

I placed my hand gently over my heart, and I felt its every rushed beat in the centre of my palm.

I glanced over at Berwald as he took a deep breath, and I knew that the time had come, so I closed my eyes, and sang:

"Du gamla, du fria, du fjällhöga nord. Du tysta, du glädjerika sköna. Jag hälsar dig, vänaste land uppå jord. Din sol, din himmel, dina ängder gröna. Din sol, din himmel, dina ängder gröna."

I could hear that Berwald wasn't singing along, but I couldn't open my eyes to look at him. I was so nervous that anything, even the slightest little thing, would interrupt my concentration, so I just kept singing:

"Du tronar på minnen från fornstora dar, då ärat ditt namn flög över jorden. Jag vet att du är och du blir vad du var. Ja, jag vill leva jag vill dö i Norden. Ja, jag vill leva jag vill dö i Norden."

I couldn't hear anything except my own, probably horrible version of a song that to me sounded like pure nonsense. Trying my hardest to learn how to pronounce these words, I had had no time left to learn what they really meant, but I just kept singing anyways, regardless of how strange it sounded:

"Jag städs vill dig tjäna mitt älskade land, din trohet till döden vill jag svära. Din rätt, skall jag värna, med håg och med hand. Din fana, högt den bragderika bära. Din fana, högt den bragderika bära."

I was on the verge of hyperventilating. It was finally over.  
>I had made it. No matter how stupid I probably sounded, I had still made it.<p>

As I quickly calmed down, I opened my eyes at last.

I immediately looked over at Berwald.  
>He had his hand on his heart, and his head hanging low, staring upon his own pale hand.<p>

For a moment, there was nothing else. Nothing else in our world at least.

Then, he clenched his hand until it was shaking, clinging on to his own shirt as if his life depended on it.

His eyes where frowning, his lips shaking.

I just stood there, for I didn't know anything to say at a moment like this.  
>I just stood there, staring with my eyes wide open at him.<p>

Nothing could be more beautiful to me than when he suddenly turned his eyes up to the flag that was rustling in the warm, June breeze, and tears were leaving pale streaks after themselves across his cheeks.

"Thank you.", was all that he, with a shaky voice, could manage to say.  
>But that was ok.<br>It was all that I wanted to hear.

Translation for Swedish lyrics:

_O glorious mountain crowned land of the North,  
>thou quiet thou joyous land, I love thee,<br>I hail thee as fairest of lands on this earth;  
>Thy meadows green, the sun in heaven above thee,<br>Thy meadows green, the sun in heaven above thee._

_Thy throne is the memory of great days of yore,  
>when all through the world thy name was carried,<br>thou art this, I know, the same as of old.  
>In thee I'll live, in thee I'll die, thou North Land,<br>In thee I'll live, in thee I'll die, thou North Land._

I _want to serve my beloved country forever.  
>I want to swear to be faithful to you until I die.<br>I'll defend your rights with my _body and soul.  
><em>Your banner is held high by those who have made a great acheivment.<em>


End file.
